Namaskaram everyone.
I’ve been reflecting on my recent experiences with modern psychotherapy, and I’ve started to feel that the "science" of psychology is actually deeply "evangelized." While the therapists I’ve met aren't necessarily trying to convert anyone, their core framework feels like it’s pulled straight from a Church manual rather than a clinical one.
I’ve even had therapists quote the Bible or the story of Adam and Eve to make points, which feels entirely out of place for those of us coming from a Dharmic background. Beyond the quotes, I see three "Absolute" Christian values being forced onto patients:
- The "Confession" Culture (Absolute Honesty): They push for "absolute honesty" as if truth is a gas that needs to be vented. It mirrors the Christian idea that the "truth shall set you free," often ignoring our traditional values of Satya (Truth) tempered with Priya (Pleasantness/Right timing).
- The "Turn the Other Cheek" Model (Absolute Unselfishness): Even when we are the victims of hurt, therapists often push us to be the "bigger person" and show compassion to those who harmed us. It feels less like healthy boundaries and more like a demand for saint-like sacrifice.
- The Mandatory Positivity (Absolute Love): There’s a constant pressure to be a "torchbearer of positivity."
It feels like the "Couch" has simply replaced the "Confessional Box," and the "Therapist" has replaced the "Priest." Instead of looking at our lives through the lens of
Vasanas (tendencies) or
Karma, we are being judged by a Western moral compass that emphasizes guilt and public dumping of emotions.
Dear Vinayak,
My advice to you is from the view point of a doctor...When we see a psychologist or a psychiatrist, very often you do have to be honest about what you face or been through.
Then you can be assessed.
Usually the psychologist acknowledges the situation you face..let you express yourself that you have been a victim.
Let you know its not your fault.
Then after that phase, you are slowly guided to go beyond that stage.
This is where the stage of " forgiveness" comes it.
When we forgive any situation, its not that we feel its unfair or the abuser goes scott free..no its not that.
Its just that you choose to go beyond it so there isnt a never ending loop of feeling like a victim.
Let me give you an example, I know a person who was badly treated by her in laws for the first five years of her marriage.
Then the torture ended.
But the person even till a ripe old age went on repeating the story to her children and always felt she was a victim.
One day I asked the person..you were a victim for 5 years but you re- live that trauma on daily basis.
Even your abusers have moved on.
So you see..a person shouldnt torture themselves once the trauma is over.
Its a vicious cycle of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder( PTSD)
So forgiving the situation actually helps you to move over the PTSD stage.
Usually a psychologist encourages one to be bigger person and saint like to help heal the self worth of a person..its just a crutch to walk to heal the fracture of the self worth of a person.
The human mind cant be ego-less right away.
Self worth too is part of our ego but the healthy basic rights of a person.
So dont fear being saint-like or the bigger person.
Next is to be the torch bearer of positivity.
Why?
Lets relate this to Gunas.
1)The broken victim stage is Tamas...totally robbed of a healthy ego.
2)The forgiveness stage of being saint like/ bigger person is Rajas..the stage where one recovers his healthy ego.
3) Torch bearer of positivity is Sattva.
Where one develops a state of mind that has positive views to keep negativity out to make complete healing possible.
So what is next?
Next is to transcend even the torch bearer stage to be able to view the bigger picture.
This might be painful for a person who hasnt completely healed.
This is the stage of introspection..to ask yourself..." what Karmic lesson did I have to learn in this life by going through this?"
This is where one has to do soul searching and seek answers.
You mentioned an addiction.
It could be a previous life vasana that showed up again, its this addiction that made you fall victim to the group.
So your lesson could be to learn that addiction leads to destruction of the mind and your survived it and you realized what made you fall prey.
So are you a survivor or a victim now?
You are a survivor!
Coming to the person who is manipulating you..what is his connection with you?
Well, this sometimes can come as a great surprise..at times the ones that come to torture us actually have a strong karmic bond..they could take negative roles to help us..well you did get over the addiction finally.
So if he friend or foe?
Karmically he could be a friend who took a negative role to help you in this life or may be he is a foe out to manipulate you but still you survived the episode.
Whatever the situation, we might not really know.
So just move on finally and realize " my addiction vasana has ended"
Some part of you cant get Christianity out of your mind hence you saw it even in psychotherapy.
Give yourself some time for your system to update when you reconnect with Hinduism.
Then once you are establish in Hinduism, you would regain your feeling of seeing Ekam Sat Viprah Bahuda Vadanti and all religions are but an expression of God.
